ABOUT ODP
The Olympic Development Program (ODP) is a player identification and development pathway connected to the United States Soccer Federation and US Youth Soccer.
Founded in 1977, ODP was the first program in the country designed to identify potential youth national team players.
Players begin at the local level and may advance to the state, regional, and national levels.
ODP gives players the opportunity to train and compete with other high-level athletes, support their development, and gain exposure to college coaches.
ODP was created to identify youth national team players and provide development opportunities for those players.
ODP PATHWAY
The Arkansas Soccer Association (ASA) is proud to offer a comprehensive Olympic Development Program (ODP).
Through ODP, our goal is to identify, train, and support the most talented, promising, and committed players in Arkansas and provide
opportunities for them to represent our state at ODP events.
Within ODP, ASA selects a pool of players by age group and gender and works with those players throughout the seasonal year.
This state player pool is fluid and may change over time as new players are identified and invited in, while others may become unavailable
due to club commitments, scheduling conflicts, or other circumstances.
Tryouts are the most direct path into the Arkansas ODP state pools.
Each year, ASA offers open tryout opportunities for players who are new to ODP or who were not selected to a state pool in the previous
seasonal year.
Tryouts are scheduled by age group and gender, and dates and locations will be shared each season once confirmed.
In addition to tryouts, ASA may also use scouting and ongoing player evaluation to identify players throughout the year.
Players identified through this process may be invited to participate in state pool trainings or events during the season.
Returning state pool players from the previous seasonal year may continue in the pool without attending a new tryout, but continued
participation is always based on performance, attitude, commitment, and availability.
Players who are inactive for an extended period may be removed from the active player pool and may be required to attend tryouts
again in order to re-enter the program.
Following state pool training and evaluation, selected players may be chosen for Arkansas ODP State Teams.
These teams represent Arkansas at regional and interregional ODP events and provide players with the opportunity to be evaluated for
possible selection to Region ODP and other higher-level identification opportunities.
